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Scenes from a National Sweep: Comme Ça

In Manhattan it can be madness to show up at a hot new restaurant during a prime time on a weekend night.

In Los Angeles, it can be just as bad — or worse.

I was at Comme Ça, with my friend Jennifer, during my recent dining tour of the nation. We had scored an 8:30 p.m. table. Correction: we had reserved an 8:30 p.m. table. We wouldn’t be seated until about 9 p.m.

Which really isn’t such a terrible delay or such a vexing turn of events, but during our wait, we couldn’t get close enough to a bartender to ask for a drink. And we had to keep reminding the disaffected hostess that we had a reservation and what time it was for. And-and-and we had to keep moving around to stay out of servers’ paths. I felt sorrier for them than I did for us.

At least we had the entertainment of the flummoxed foursome standing near us.

“This is mayhem,” one of them said to another, referring to the sound level, the slam dance of bodies, the brain-rattling commotion.

We had befriended them. No, wait, that makes us sound sweeter than we are and more patient than we were feeling. What we had done was ask them to tell us what they were going through, so we could be reassured that we weren’t alone in our uncertainty that we’d be eating anytime soon.

We got that reassurance.

It was about 8:45 as we talked to them, and they had been waiting since 8:05 for an 8:15 reservation. They had initially been told that there would be a table ready by about 8:30, when they were then told the wait would be until at least 8:50.

They were growing pessimistic, and trying to adjust their guesses about the hour when they’d finally be seated.

Said one of the two women in the foursome: “Do they serve breakfast here?”

The other said that she hadn’t been out to an “in” place in Los Angeles in a while, and that walking through the door of Comme Ça was an immediate and potent buzz — which it is.

Although the menu is rife with brasserie and bistro food (frisee aux lardons, onion soup, tarte flambee, moules frites, coq au vin, duck confit), the lighting is dim, the banquettes are white instead of red and the décor is at once clubby and sexy. Comme Ça is a post-millennial brasserie for a city with a special kind of glitter.

It gets a young crowd, or at least did on the night Jennifer and I were there. A quarter of the women looked like Jennifer Aniston, while another quarter of the women looked like Cameron Diaz. Half the men looked, acted and dressed like Tom Cruise circa “Jerry Maguire.” I was in the other half.

The foursome Jennifer and I talked to were in their late 40’s, I guessed. They looked bedazzled, but it was a bedazzlement that, minute by minute, gave way to exasperation.

“It’s exciting in a way, being here,” said one of the women — not the woman who had made the breakfast comment.

“But at this point,” she added, “it’d be really nice to sit down.”

She lassoed a man who seemed to be the main floor manager. His hairline was damp with sweat, and he was jittery with adrenaline. He smiled, laughed, flirted with her and explained that a few tables long past dessert just wouldn’t rise, wouldn’t depart, and he was watching them, trying subtly to nudge them, hoping for the best, praying for the best.

He was, in other words, a portrait of charismatic grace under pressure, reconnecting me with my wonder — my awe — over the poise of so many people who work in the restaurant industry. By the time he was finished talking with her, her exasperation was ceding ground to renewed bedazzlement, though she maintained her careful, careful watch over all the other frustrated diners around her.

All of us who were waiting for tables watched one another intently, trying to keep track of who had entered the restaurant when and who might be competing with us for the next table available and whose migration from the crowd near the bar to an empty table should set off our alarms and send us back to the aloof hostess for an update, an argument. There’s a peculiar and peculiarly tense jockeying for position that occurs between diners in a restaurant that hasn’t managed its reservation book well, and that jockeying was in full swing at Comme Ça.

Jennifer noticed a just-empty table for two. She raced to the hostess, who had two menus in her hand and seemed poised to summon two diners. Would they be us?

Indeed they would, but they apparently wouldn’t have been if Jennifer hadn’t shown such speed. The hostess responded to Jennifer’s latest reminder that we were there and that we were waiting with surprise. In giving us the empty table, it seemed the hostess wasn’t following through on her initial intent when she grabbed those two menus and started looking around.

We shot a guilty look at the foursome, who were still waiting for a table. One of the women shrugged and smiled wanly.

It wasn’t a table for four we were being led to. She had nothing against us.

Funny you should post this about Comme Ça. We had an 8:30 reservation on a Tuesday night shortly after it opened. I have never been so rudely treated by restaurant staff as we were by the Comme Ça staff, who consistently lied to us about when we would be seated, and what the priority was among those waiting. In response to our inquiries, they whined about annoying diners who had long ago finished eating, but would not leave their tables, as if we should feel so sorry for the restaurant for not being able to manage its business.

We also had similar problems getting to the bar. It took us nearly half an hour to get some wine to hold us over during our wait. This has become a big problem at popular restaurants in L.A. Most of them now serve food at the bar, meaning that people waiting for tables end up squeezed in the middle — can’t sit down, can’t get to the bar. And I always feel bad having to shout and reach over someone trying to enjoy a nice dinner. There should be some area of the bar where people can’t eat, and a thirsty waiting person can at least order a drink and get out of the way.

We finally left at 9:30 to have a lovely dinner at Lucques across the street. The “manager” actually scolded us as we left, saying that if only we had waited for our table he would have “taken care of” us with comps. We were much happier at Lucques, where it seems the staff has become accustomed to serving fugitives from Comme Ça.

Why do masochists allow themselves to be so mistreated? My rule of thumb in NY and LA: If you are kept waiting longer than 20 minutes, you leave immediately. There is no point in patronizing such establishments; there are plenty of other places who will treat you the patron with the dignity and respect you deserve. For all I care, such restaurants can take their attitude and go into bankruptcy, guilty as charged of overbooking and inept management.

It reminds me of a similar situation in an Italian restaurant in Granada, Spain. I think it is due to not having a correct reservation system. When you go to a restaurant, your main purpose is to eat well, in a pleasant environment, not to feel like you are in a club.

It makes one wonder if walking into an Applebee’s and being greeted by a delightful hostess who then right away has someone take u to a table or booth isn’t so bad as it seems….especially if you’ve just finished a day of shopping or going out to eat after work?

I am sorry, but these instances are not always the restaurant’s fault!
What about the 6:00 reservation that shows up at 6:20, idles over the menu, refuses to order until 6:50, but only wants to order appetizers, then after finishing appetizers at 7:20, peruses the menu again, orders their mains, you get the idea. Suddenly a table that should have been finished by 8pm hasn’t even looked at dessert menus by then.
Or how about the 6:30 booking for 4 people – 2 people arrive and insist on being seated as an incomplete party. They sit, nurse their first glasses of wine, and wait, and wait, and wait for their friends to show up. Once their tardy friends arrive an hour late they just chat and chat and get irritated when the server tries to take their order.

These are the kinds of tables that restaurants struggle with at 6pm, and it affects the 8 and 8:30 bookings. Diners blame the restaurants, but it is just as often the fault of inconsiderate diners before them.

To wait for a table and going through Irritation,Lies, Pressure and then – your Awe – it makes me feel kind like you felt bad for the Hostess, and what she was going through in the wait to accomodate every reservation. What most irritated customers fail to understand ( in my experience )that is most common for the dining clientele to overstay, and what’s worse that once they have been seated the Do exactly the same. Nudging dining guests is Bad ( specially, when it is suggested by the irritated waiting customers, YOU wouldn’t like if was done to you, would You! ). Part of the irritation i think was that you couldn’t get a drink or get near the bar, and the wait was longer than half hour. A simple offering of a tulipe filled half way with the house champagne and few Tidbits ( LOTSA Smiles and some apologetic sincere understanding… would have done wonders ). Waiting to be seated in a “IN ” restaurant ( specially at the very beginning ) is an experience full of Expectations and at times some Bumps ).
Mr Bruni, i hope that after all this bedazzlement turning in exasperation, that you will confide and share Your fine thoughts on the Food, and in the service ( which you so profoundly and righfully scrutinize ). Thanks for the great service that you so minutiously describe and rend.

Eric is spot on. As a Maitre D’, i frequently have to deal with customers who are upset that their tables are not ready the second they walk in the door at a second seating. So many times there are diners who “pitch tents” at their tables and “camp” all night. Your host is not LYING to you and please don’t yell at them when the WHOLE staff is patiently waiting for the 4-top to get up after they sat 30 minutes late and had 2 more join them for dessert! Trust me, it’s more frustrating for us to watch your faces grow impatient than it is for you to be waiting while enjoying a glass of wine.

That’s fine Andrea, then just don’t give me attitude when I show up a half hour late for my reservation. It’s not my fault… my boss kept me late… my baby wouldn’t go to sleep… the 6 train was running slow… there was traffic on the LIE.

#7 is right on, but restaurants need to be more assertive in laying out their policies to customers making reservations. Industries that rely on people’s sense of good manners and unselfishness must be willing to intervene when it’s clear that some folks just aren’t willing to play fair (behaving as if the restaurant were their private club and throwing a hissy fit if regarded as what they are, customers).

becky, imagine you’re sitting more than the alotted two hours for a 4-top table turn and someone comes over to your table and says, “i’m sorry, but we have other reservations waiting. could you please take your conversation to the bar?” HA! i totally agree that this would be ideal (for the staff) but they would post their blog about rude service faster than their 3 and 1/2 hour two course meal.

Look, it is a new restaurant. The owners are in debt up to their eyeballs. They are no doubt booking every table and then taking one or two more reservations on top of that to cover any possible no-shows. They need the revenue more than they care about seating anyone late. In six months to a year they will iron things out, have paid off some of that debt, and seat people on time(mostly). The important questions remain-is the food great, do you feel good sitting there, is the service informed and timely? If these are all affirmitives, then be patient, and go again.

There’s a restaurant with a giant communal table that, the night I was there, looked as if it was seating about 30 people all in the same party. Around 9:15, this woman goes up to the head of the table and yells at the guest, screaming,”I had this table reserved at 9:00 for a huge party! Get up and leave!”

And I thought to myself “Someone is waiting to sit where I am.”

When have you overstayed your welcome at a restaurant worthy of being reviewed by the New York Times? 2, 2.5 hours?

I feel like a restaurant worthy of a two-star NYT review deserves to be busy. It’s a good place. So why do people get so bent out of shape over waiting a while for a table at a popular restaurant in New York City? Put it into your eating schedule like you would traffic for work. Clearly people are enjoying themselves so much that they’re not leaving. Soon, very soon, you’ll be one of those people.

And to #5, if eating at Applebees is what you’re looking for after a hard day, stay at chain restaurants, and don’t ever let me catch you being the person holding up the table for MY 9:00 reservation.